Domino Effect
by pandorabox82
Summary: When everything that can go wrong does go wrong, Penelope finds herself listening to the advice of her boss and calling her girlfriend. But will Erin make the bad day better, or will things go from bad to worse?


"Really, Esther? You choose today to have a flat tire?" Penelope moaned as she looked at her car. There was no way that she could get the blasted thing changed and get to work on time. And today was one day that she did not want to be late.

Kicking the flat hard, she gasped in pain and then moaned as she saw that she had gotten her favorite pair of shoes dirty with mud or oil. Huffing in annoyance, she whipped out her personal cellphone and went to call Derek, to see if he could give her a ride in, when it slipped from her fingers, falling to the hard pavement.

Penelope let out a little scream of terror as she groped for the device, spilling her coffee all down her front of her blouse. "All I asked for was one nice day, universe! Was that so much to ask?" she wailed as she picked up her phone and saw the way the screen had shattered. Tossing everything in her backseat, she pulled out her backup phone from her bra and called Derek. "Hey, Sugar. How is your morning going?"

"What do you need, Baby Girl?"

"How could you tell?" she whined, leaning against her car and trying to sop up some of the coffee on her blouse.

"There's just something about your tone of voice. What's wrong?"

"This is like the worst possible day ever, and it's only eight in the morning. I need a ride to work, since Esther has a flat tire, and I don't have time to change it. Are you able to swing by and pick me up?"

There was a slight pause before he spoke once more. "I'm already at the office, Penny. Why don't you call your girlfriend and see if she can't pick you up."

She sighed lightly as she looked up into a rapidly darkening sky. "We…had a fight a couple nights ago. She asked me to give her some time to cool down and think things over."

"Well, you both have strong personalities. Was it your first fight?"

"Yeah. I've been walking on eggshells around her ever since she got out of the hospital, and I guess that was a bit chafing." A loud clap of thunder startled her and she gasped. "Can't you please come and pick me up? I'll give you gas money."

"Sorry, no can do. Rossi and I are heading out for that custodial in five minutes." As he said that, the heavens opened up and she pouted as hurriedly pulled up the canvas top to her car. "I'll talk to you later?"

"Fine, fine, Der. Have a good time." She hung up and stuffed her phone in her bra, fastening the roof before slipping inside her car and pulling her phone back out. Quickly, she looked up the number for a local cab company. After calling for one, she sat and waited, hoping that she wouldn't be too late.

By the time the cab arrived, she was starting to get antsy, and that feeling was only made worse when she got stuck in a traffic jam caused by a large traffic accident. "Would you happen to know any faster way to get to the FBI building in Quantico? I was due for a briefing twenty minutes ago."

"I can try, Miss, but a lot of people have the idea of taking an alternate route."

"All right, I'll try to have a little more patience." She slumped back in the seat and pulled out her phone, flipping through the pictures she had of her girlfriend. There weren't too many, since she didn't particularly like having her picture taken, but Penelope had managed to capture a few candid shots of her. "Ah, Erin, I hope you let me in again soon. I miss you." She smiled at the woman's bemused face before sighing once more. It had taken them so long to find their way after everything Curtis had done to try and destroy Erin. She didn't want to let some silly argument derail their relationship.

Without meaning to, Penelope fell asleep in the back seat of the cab, only to wake up when the cabbie had pulled over in front of her building. Hastily, she pulled out some money to cover the trip and then made her way to the doors. Only, as she stepped through them, she twisted her ankle and heard the heel of her shoe snap. "Dammit," she muttered as she stepped out of the shoes and picked them up, padding over to security.

"Good morning, Penelope."

"Hey, Mike." She tried to smile at the security guard, only to feel herself tear up. "Today is not a good day. I hope yours goes better than mine, at least." He nodded and she passed through the metal detector without incident, shuffling over to the elevator and waiting to get on.

There was one good thing about being late, there was no one else waiting for the elevator, and she rode up to the sixth floor alone. "You're late, Garcia," were the first words she heard as she stepped out into the hall.

Looking up into Hotch's eyes, she shrugged. "It has not been a good morning. What do you need?"

"Well, I needed you here two hours ago. You could have at least called."

"I did! I asked Derek for a ride, since Esther got a flat tire, and when he said he couldn't, I called a cab. It's not my fault there was a bad accident that backed everything up."

"It would have been nice if you had given me a call, and you know it. I had Kevin take your place today, so you might as well head home."

Penelope hung her head in defeat and gave him a small nod. "Yes, Sir. I'm sorry I didn't call. It's just been a very bad day."

"Then I hope it gets better. We'll start again tomorrow?" Again, she nodded, smiling a little when he reached out and touched her shoulder. "At least this can be a spot of good in the day, right? More time for you to catch up on that game you're playing."

"I suppose so, Hotch." She turned and stepped back into the elevator, smiling sadly at him. "This is seriously the suckiest day ever."

"Why don't you call her, then? It won't get better until you call her." He stepped into the elevator with her and rode down. "I'm sure she misses you just as much as you're missing her."

"Is it that obvious, Hotch?" she asked softly, looking up into his eyes. He nodded and she frowned a little. "I do miss her. Without her in the office, I don't get to see her every day, and this is our first fight. How did you and JJ move past your first fight?"

He shrugged, looking away from her. "We ended up in bed that night."

"Oh. She said she needed space, Hotch. That's never a good sign, is it?"

He reached out and touched her shoulder softly, and she stepped closer to him, closing her free arm around his waist as she began to cry once more. "Call her when you get home. Will you promise me that?"

Penelope nodded against his chest, trying to stop her tears. She was grateful that Hotch led her to the door and hailed a cab for her, waiting with her until it arrived. "I love her, Hotch."

"Then tell her that, too."

"Okay." She slipped into the cab and half-chuckled, half-sobbed, as she realized it was the same driver from earlier. "Back home, I guess," she said when he met her eye in the mirror. "My boss gave me the day off."

"Sure thing, miss," he replied and pulled out into traffic. "At least the accident is cleared up now. I should be able to get you there in no time."

She nodded absently, watching the rain fall down from the sky. True to his word, the cab driver had her home quickly, and she shoved some more money at him. "Thank you, have a good day," she whispered as she clambered out of the cab and ran up to her stoop, quickly unlocking the door and hurrying up to her apartment.

The moment she had closed the door, she threw everything down in a heap and padded over to her couch, throwing herself down on it. As she reached in her dress for her spare phone, she sighed and wondered if it really was a good idea to call Erin. Then Hotch's words ran through her mind and she took a deep breath, hitting her number on speed dial. "Hello?"

"Erin."

"What do you want?"

The words were clipped, and Penelope shuddered a little. "I, I'm having a bad day, and I wanted to hear your voice. Nothing has gone right since we fought, and I'm sorry." She began to cry once more and hung up, not wanting to hear Erin reject her once more. Her heart couldn't take it.

Somehow, she fell asleep there, still crying, and her dreams were filled with vicious nightmares of Erin leaving her, hurting her, and she thrashed about until she woke herself up. Penelope's arm rammed into soft, giving, flesh and she lifted her eyes until she met Erin's. "I'm here. Shh." She opened her arms, and Penelope fell into them, rough sobs tearing from her throat.

"I'm sorry. I missed you. I, I love you." Erin's arms tightened around her and she wondered if it had been such a great idea to just blurt that piece of information out. Then Erin relaxed a little, rocking her back and forth.

"I'm not ready to say those words yet," she whispered in her ear as she helped her to stand. Together, they made their way to the bed and Penelope tugged her down next to her, spooning up tightly to her body. "But will you tell me why you hung up on me?"

There was a sadness about her voice, and Penelope realized that she might have misjudged why Erin's words were short. "I thought you were still mad at me. You said that you wanted some space, and I tried to give that to you, but it hurt so much, not to see you. I didn't call, or come over, even though I wanted to, because I was trying to respect your wishes."

Erin nodded a little, tugging the blouse out of her skirt and running her hands up Penelope's back so that she could unhook her bra. "And I was hoping that you wouldn't respect my wishes, that you would call, or come over, that you would see beyond my words. I should have just told you that I wanted to know if I meant enough to you to chase after me."

Pulling back a little, she looked into those sweet grey-blue eyes, noticing the tears that Erin was desperately trying to control and nodded. "I'm sorry I didn't, beloved." Leaning in once more, she tenderly kissed Erin's lips before yawning once more. "Crying tires me out."

"Me, too. Do you want to sleep together?" She nodded and felt Erin smile against her cheek. "Good. And when we wake up, you can tell me all about your horrible day." Her lips pressed softly against her cheek and Penelope sighed lightly.

"Love you, Rin," she murmured as she let herself fall back asleep. This time, Erin didn't stiffen in shock, she just sighed gently as she nodded, cuddling in close to her as sleep overtook them both.

It was dark when they woke up and Penelope sat and stretched, looking down on Erin, taking in how her hair fanned out on the pillow behind her. Reaching out, she traced a few lines of silver that had crept into the golden strands and watched Erin blink her eyes open. "Penny," she murmured, her hand coming up to cup her cheek. "Why would you love me?"

"Because you're you. You fought so hard to come back to the world of the living and then, when things didn't work out between Rossi and you, you didn't shy away from the feelings that bubbled to the surface between us. You've never acted ashamed of me, and you included me in your family. Why would I not love you?"

Erin smiled gently before puckering her lips. Penelope obliged her and leaned down to kiss her. She giggled a little as Erin closed her arms around her neck and pulled her down on top of her. "You have such faith in me. It's so sweet. Now, would you tell me about your day?"

She nodded and pressed a few quick kisses to Erin's lips before turning them on their sides, continuing to meet Erin's eyes. "I broke my phone."  
"Which one?"

"My main one. And I spilled coffee all over my blouse. Esther has a flat tire…" Erin shook her head. "What did you do?"

"I called AAA when I saw that it was flat. One of the perks of sleeping with a member."

She sighed and kissed her once more. "I was late to work, like two hours late, due to having to call a cab and running into the massive car accident. And then, Hotch sent me home, since Kevin took over for me." She couldn't help but kiss Erin again. "But then, you were here when I woke up, and suddenly, everything got better."

Erin made a low sound of pleasure as she nodded. "I missed you, you know. I don't even remember why we fought. Will you promise me something?"

"What, Rin?"

"If, well, when we fight again, run after me. I just want to know I'm worth pursuing."

"Oh, Erin Rose, you are worth chasing to the very ends of the earth." With slow, deliberate, movements, she began to roll Erin's shirt up her torso, revealing the pale skin she had come to love so. "I would search you out in a darkened room, cut down a jungle of trees to rescue you, do anything in my power to make certain that you were safe and you were mine."

Erin nodded as she lifted her arms, letting Penelope pull her blouse off. "I would move heaven and earth to make sure that you were okay. I never want to see you hurting, my dear." Erin made quick work of the buttons on her blouse and tossed it to the floor, taking the bra with her. "I want to feel your skin against mine, Penny."

"We can make that happen." She reached behind Erin's back and unclasped her bra, sliding it down her arms and letting it join the heap of clothes on the floor. Their fingers fumbled with the fastenings on their skirts and their motions became frenzied as the need to lose every barrier between them increased. Finally, they were nude, and Penelope sighed as she scooted close to her lover, wrapping her arms around her waist.

"This is home," Erin whispered, and Penelope smiled as she nodded. "Maybe this is love, then, knowing I'm home in your arms. Not being able to live without you." She pressed her lips to Penelope's cheek and then nuzzled her face into her hair. "Maybe you're my lodestone, my north star, my life."

"Maybe I think the same thing of you. Are you ready to try some trial runs?"

"Yes." The word slipped from Erin's lips so quickly that Penelope was sure she had imagined it. And then, she spoke once more. "Yes, I would like that very much."

They kissed once more and Penelope giggled a little when Erin nipped at her lower lip. "You are such a vixen, Rin."

"I missed you. I hunger for you." She possessively claimed her lips in another hungry kiss and Penelope responded in kind, mashing her lips against Erin's in an attempt to get even closer to her. "I want to try living with you. Can I stay here first?"

"Of course! But why?"

Erin smiled and kissed her once more. "I may have brought over a bag already. "

"You were that confident?"

She shrugged, nestling her head into Penelope's shoulder. "Yes." She pressed her lips against her neck. "You're home to me. Would you tell me a story?"

"What would you like to hear?"

"Make something up. I overheard you telling Henry a bedtime story that night he was staying with Jessica for the first time. I, I can tell you one thing for certain, Penny. I love your stories."

She sighed with contentment and nodded, running her hand up and down Erin's back. "All right, a story for my lovely one. Once upon a time, there were two women who didn't really get along all that well. They both had strong personalities, and were unable to understand why the other was so stubborn."

Erin made a low sound of approval and Penelope slipped her hand down to pinch her ass lightly. "What?"

"Don't think ahead of the storyteller!"

She nodded and kissed her neck softly. "All right, continue."

"So, one day, while they were at work, a very bad man decided to hurt someone they worked with. And it was during the fallout that Pandora was able to see behind the veil for the first time, and her heart began to become tender to her…" Penelope smiled tenderly as she decided to lay out for Erin exactly what had caused her to fall in love with her, starting from the very moment her heart had turned until now. It was the only story she could give her, after all, to help her understand just how deep Penelope's feelings ran.


End file.
